Finally got out of the house early this morning, and headed downtown to the protest of President Hu around the Fairmont Olympic (sorry, it’ll always be the Four Seasons to me) before heading in to work. I heard some details of the goings-on yesterday, and was completely intrigued. Protesting against social, political, spiritual and human rights oppression all at once could become a muddled message, but amazingly, what I found was anything but that.

Arrived and took part in the most quiet, moving, well-organized and dare I say *effective* protest movement that I’ve ever seen. Period. Boy, do we war protesters have a lot to learn.

To see religious groups, human rights groups, political groups, individuals and even Hu supporters able to organize and get their messages across so quietly and elegantly was something to see. In the end, beyond all the police lines and sirens and traffic jams, it’s still about the individual, something that none of these groups ignored.